What is brand hijacking in Google Ads?
Brand hijacking is when someone else uses your brand name to win the customers who were searching for you, most often with Google ads that appear on your name, or use it in their text. Here's what it looks like, what it costs, and how to deal with it.
What brand hijacking means
In search advertising, "brand hijacking" usually means another advertiser showing ads on searches for your brand name, so that people looking for you see them first. It ranges from legal but annoying (a competitor bidding on your name with an ad about themselves) to clearly misleading (an ad that pretends to be your official site, with a phone number that isn't yours).
The forms it takes
| Type | What you see |
|---|---|
| Competitor bidding | A rival's ad on your brand search, about their own product |
| Brand in the ad text | Your name in their headline: "Acme Insurance – Get Quotes" |
| Affiliate bidding | Your own partners buying your brand clicks, then earning a commission |
| Lead reselling | Comparison or lead sites capturing your searchers and selling them on, sometimes back to you or your competitors |
| Lookalike domains | yourbrand-quotes.com, yourbrandofficial.net |
| Call hijacking | Call-only ads or call assets on your brand that route to someone else's phone line |
What it costs you
- Lost customers: some searchers click the first ad, whoever it's from.
- Higher brand CPCs: more bidders in your auctions means you pay more for your own name. See why brand CPCs go up.
- Double payment: with affiliates and lead resellers, you can end up paying a commission or a lead fee for a customer who was already looking for you.
- Confusion and complaints: customers who call the wrong number or buy from the wrong site often blame you.
Estimate your own numbers with the brand bidding cost calculator.
How to detect it
You usually can't see it from your own computer: ads vary by city, device and time of day, and hijackers often avoid the brand owner's own area. You need repeated searches from several places. See how to find who is bidding on your brand, or run the free check at the bottom of this page.
How to stop it
- Affiliates and partners: enforce your agreements. See affiliates bidding on your brand.
- Your name in their ad: a Google trademark complaint and a cease and desist letter.
- Keyword-only competitors: ask, and defend with your own brand campaign.
- Lookalike domains: registrar reports and domain disputes.
The full playbook is in how to stop competitors bidding on your brand.
Questions
What is brand hijacking?
In search advertising, it's when another advertiser shows ads on searches for your brand name, or uses your name in their ads, to win customers who were looking for you.
Is brand hijacking illegal?
It depends. In the US, bidding on a brand as a keyword is generally allowed; using the brand in the ad in a misleading way, impersonating the brand or using lookalike domains can be unlawful. Google also restricts trademarks in ad text after a complaint.
How do I detect brand hijacking?
Search your brand repeatedly from several cities, on desktop and mobile, at different times, and keep dated screenshots, or use a monitoring service that does this automatically.
Free check: see the ads on your brand right now
One live Google search for your brand from the US city and device you choose. Free, no account, about five seconds.